The present invention relates to I.S. glass container forming machines and more particularly to the mold open and close mechanisms of such machines.
In an I.S. machine a gob of molten glass is formed into a parison within a blank mold and the formed parison is transferred to a blow station where the parison is blown within a blow mold into a formed bottle. The blow molds and the blank molds are part of a mold open and close mechanism such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,830,254.
In that design, a mold carrier is connected to a pair of links via a horizontal rotatable shaft. The links are part of a drive assembly. The removal of the shaft permits the separation of the mold carrier from the drive assembly. The entire drive assembly, including the drive assembly housing, could then be removed by loosening bolts which secured the drive assembly housing to the top surface of the frame and pulling the housing, with the housed drive assembly, upwardly lifting the motor of the drive assembly up through a hole in the section frame. In this design, the link bearings were hard to maintain.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an I.S. glass container forming machine in which the mold carrier and drive assembly can be more easily removed and the link bearings will be easier to maintain.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following portion of this specification and from the accompanying drawings which illustrate in accordance with the mandate of the patent statutes a presently preferred embodiment incorporating the principles of the invention.